One of the great paradoxes of living a life aligned with the enchanted part of our human nature is that we must be vulnerable to create enchantment.

How many fairy tales involve the vulnerable one — whether a young child, a princess or simple thinker — who drinks the poison, takes the road no wise person would take, or dares to say the Emperor has no clothes? It is almost universally the vulnerable heroes and heroines who save the day and return enchantment to the land.

We live in a time, like all others in human history, where we can create an enchanted world as long as there are those of us who are willing to be vulnerable in service of love, truth, beauty or whatever ideal(s) calls to us.

This is a good time to contemplate what vulnerability means to you in both your life and writing. Where has your vulnerability been the key to the enchantment moments of your life? How might your vulnerability be your strength now?

Today, dare to ask for help, express your feelings, admit that you don’t know how to proceed and release your need to be in control.

See if you can create some new small or large moment of enchantment in your world by opening up to your vulnerability. The world is depending upon you to listen to the vulnerability of your enchanted heart.

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress.

Charles Dickens

Sometimes change is gentle, sometimes it is not. Seasons of loss can come upon us at any time.

The last week and a half have been one of those times when my family felt the highs and lows of life with a beloved pet. As I mentioned in a post last week our beloved Lhasa Apso, Ginger has been ill. We’ve been on a roller coaster of seeing her get better and then take a turn for the worse, over and over. Ginger has been on every medication imaginable to address a wide host of diseases, and the truth is the totality of her symptoms don’t match up to any normal disease. She’s young to be experiencing disease the ways she is now.

Yesterday Ginger embodied many symptoms of a dog that was dying. She wouldn’t eat, she couldn’t stand up, she was trembling, and had a sad vacant look in her eyes. The veterinarian had warned me that she was in bad shape, and let me make the call to take her home. I basically expected that we would be watching her die. Both of my boys kept asking me if a miracle could happen, and I’d say yes. Then, they would ask if I thought she was going to die soon, and I’d also say yes.

We all ended up keeping a watch on her until 4 am. We spent hours crying, and in some ways became closer than we have been in a long time with each other. At one point, my youngest son asked if we could do anything to more to help her. So, I suggested that we pick a healing angel card and ask the oracle what could we do for Ginger.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, I picked the Enchantment card. I’m not making this up for those of you have been reading my recent posts on the Enchanted Oasis. I took the card as an indication that I better walk my talk about what I’m recommending to others.

The advice on this Enchantment card was:

Recapture your childlike sense of wonder and awe. View the world as a magical place. Ask God and the angels to help you with anything — small or large.

Certainly, I was already praying, but I prayed some more last night after seeing this card and decided to believe that anything was possible. I also decided that as difficult as it is to do when a beloved is sick, there are still ways to create enchantment and magic for those we love.

And today Ginger provided her own enchantment for us.

This morning, I went in another room to get a glass of water and returned to find Ginger perked up, with her eyes clear and wagging her tail. She is so used to following me all over the house, she was trying to do that. She looked like her normal self, except she was still to weak to walk. Yet, I was able to carry her outside to do her business and she did this morning, something she couldn’t do yesterday. To me, all of this was a kind of magic.

Since Ginger looked much better, I woke up the boys around 8:30 so they could see her in a lucid condition at least once more. We decided she was well enough to create perhaps one last bit of enchantment in Ginger’s life and placed her in a Radio Flyer wagon and took her on a walk around the block so that she could feel the summer breeze on her face and see the places she loved to walk so much. She was clearly happy to do this, even though it also exhausted her.

Ginger still looks better now, but it’s hard to know if she is recovering in some way or just having a good moment.

All of this reminds me of when my father was sick with Alzheimer’s Disease, and what it was like to spend his last hours on earth with him. Moments of deep sadness rarely feel like enchanting ones. But there was so much around my being present for my father’s death that now looks enchanting to me.

If we look for it, and make some effort to create it, there is an enchanting beauty even in our most sorrowful times.

And thank you. I truly believe that all of your prayers and kind wishes have made a difference for Ginger whatever her outcome. My family thanks you from the bottom of our heart for the magic of your kindness.

Before we go much further in this blog series on accessing our inner and outer Enchanted Oasis, I want to offer a few disclaimers:

The word Enchantment can be off-putting to some people. There are many people who fear anything that has an element of magic to it. My belief is that enchantment is like the goat in this picture – natural. I suspect prohibitions against magical or intuitive ways go back to times when “magic” was used against people in manipulative ways by priests or shamans. Or healers with superstitious or evolving medical practices ended up doing things that were hurtful instead of helpful. This negative type of magic is NOT the kind of enchantment that I am talking about..

My idea of enchantment is to work with and expand the natural energy within each of us and outside of our selves to create results in our lives that feel magical or enchanted.

Also before going further in talking about accessing our inner and outer enchanted oasis, I want to be clear that I don’t consider myself to be a spiritual sage or saint, or to be fully awakened to the God-consciousness within. I am on a journey of spiritual growth and expansion as much as anyone else.

My views are meant to stimulate your own discernment and spirit, not to dictate any particular path for you.

Our Energy

You may not think about this often, but everyone creates an energetic transmission with their words, presence and actions. It’s up to each of us to choose to open up to and create an enchanting presence with our life.

My chosen spiritual task this summer is to increase the connection with my own enchanting energy and increase the amount of enchantment in the world. I’m hoping that some of you will also work to increase your level of enchanted living for your own sake and for the sake of our world.

Our Time in History

We are living through times when perhaps being frugal or constricted is going to be more valued for a while. That doesn’t mean that we have to give up enchantment, perhaps quite the contrary. In the next week, I’ll be sharing about the ways in which we create enchantment through our everyday choices of where we live, how we live, what we eat, what types of clothes we wear, who we spend our time with, and connecting with the spirit of the earth.

Yesterday, I asked you how it is that you stay connected with the Enchanted Oasis inside of you.

For this weekend, I ask you:

How could you increase the level of enchantment in your life over the next two months, between now and the next season?

I ask this question to prepare you for the months ahead.

My intuition says that the intensity of life is going to increase in a new direction by October of this year. Some of that intensity is normal seasonal change. Beyond that, if you’re quiet within yourself now and the next few months, you can feel an energy building up.

We see it reflected in global economic challenges, climate change, growing gaps between the rich and poor, and so many other outer trends. If you’re astrologically inclined, there are major alignments shifting between now and October. We’re moving into a very intense time for most people.

It’s best to be shifting yourself now, before this more intense time hits.

That’s part of the reason that I’m writing about enchantment. To live an enchanted life, does not mean that everything goes the way you had planned. With a focus on looking for creating enchantment, you make your life and that of those around you easier.

So, again, I suggest today and this weekend think about how you might increase the enchantment in your life, because the changes you make now could make the rest of the year a one of dazzling intensity versus one of overwhelming intensity.

Are any of you feeling this same rising wave of intensity coming? Just curious.